Untold Italy · Friday, September 4, 2026
Ed Cutler discusses Italy's unique culinary tradition of embracing bitterness, seen in ingredients like 'bitter greens' and Amaros. This practice is linked to historical necessity, where people utilized all available edible plants, and a cultural tradition dating back to monastic practices for health.
“But Italy preserves that culture of bitterness on the palate.”
“But in Italy, I think there's a combination. I think when times weren't as plentiful as today and hunger and starvation did really sort of stalk the land for many, many years, people had to make use of everything that grew here.”
“And certainly with the distillation of the Amaro bitters, the things like Fernet Branca and the whole galaxy of Amaros, which I love. That goes back to the sort of time of the monasteries.”